Slicing machine



June 9, 1936- c. r. WALTER \SLICINC; MACHINE Filed July 21, 1932 2 sh ets-sheet 1- CbarZesTH difez'" INVENTOR ATTORNEY June 9, 1936. g, WALTER 2,33%

SLICING MACHINE Filed July 21, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Clzrlw T fll dizez' h 1 INVENTOR w T E" s s Q B 44- (2. @h um ATTORNEY Patented June 9, 1936 U NiTED STATS SLICING MACHINE Charles T. Walter, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Industrial Patents Corporation, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Application July 21, 1932, Serial No. 623,737

20 Claims. (Cl. 146-111) The invention relates to a slicing machine for slicing slabs of bacon and other meat products.

One of the objects of the present invention is to improve the construction of slicing machines and more especially the means for feeding a slab of bacon or other meat product to the cutting element and to provide a simple, practical and comparatively inexpensive slicing machine of strong and durable construction equipped with a feeding device adapted to support a slab of bacon in proper position for slicing and to simultaneously feed the same continuously to the slicing element in a straight line whereby a positive, accurate and efficient feeding of the meat product to the cutting element is assured.

A further object of the invention is to provide a feeding device of this character having a plurality of groups of longitudinally reciprocating and vertically oscillating combined feeding and bacon supporting bars adapted to support a slab of bacon closely adjacent the knife blade of the cutting element and to positively and accurately feed the meat product to the knife whereby perfect slicing of the meat product will be effected.

Another object of the invention is to provide a slicing machine in which either a rotary or reciprocating knife may be employed.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and pointed out in the claims hereto appended, it being understood that various changes in the form, proportion and minor details of construction, within the scope of the claims, may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal, sectional view of a meat slicing machine taken substantially on the line l--I of Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially on the line 22 of Fig. 1 in which there is illustrated a reciprocating knife.

Fig. 3 is a detail longitudinal sectional view showing one of the longitudinally reciprocating and vertically oscillating combined feed and supporting bars, illustrating in dotted lines a feeding action of the same.

Fig. 4 is a detail transverse sectional view illustrating the arrangement of the eccentrics for operating the groups of feed bars.

Fig. 5 is a detail view of the eccentric shaft, illustrating in dotted lines, the throw of the eccentrics.

Fig. 6 is a side elevational view of the slicing machine showing the same equipped with a rotary knife.

In the accompanying drawings, I designates a slicing machine frame having an inclined bed 2 composed of bottom and side walls and adapted to receive slabs of bacon or other meat products. Although the present improvements are'shown applied to a slicing machine of the inclined type 5 it will be readily understood that they are equally applicable to other types of slicing machines, par ticularly those having a horizontal bed.

The inclined bed which is located above a horizontal, endless slice receiving conveyor 3, is provided at opposite sides with upwardly extending arms 4 and 5 connected by transverse frame members 6 and 'I, provided with bearings 8 and 9. The bearings 8 receive a longitudinal drive or knife actuating shaft I!) which is provided at its 5 rear end with a rotary crank ll. Crank pin l2 of the crank l I is connected to one end of a transversely disposed connecting rod IS/ Connecting rod l3 extends across the slicing machine and at its other end is pivotally connected to arm M of b longitudinal knife shaft I5. The knife shaft l5 which is journaled in the bearings 9 carries an oscillating or reciprocating knife It, as illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawings. The shaft I ll has keyed or otherwise fixed to 5 it a spur gear wheel l8 which meshes with a spur pinion I9 fixed to the shaft of an electric motor 2! mourited on the frame of the machine at one side of the rear end thereof, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings. The particular slicing machine shown in the drawings utilizes an oscillating or reciprocating knife. It will be understood, of course, that a directly driven rotary knife could be used with equal facility. The slicing machine is provided at the front end of the bed 2 with an anvil 22 which supports the slab 23 of bacon adjacent the cutting element and the bacon is fed to the cutting element by a feeding device comprising a plurality of groups or sets of multiple toothed feed bars 24 extending longitudinally of the feed bed and provided at their upper edges with teeth 25 which are shouldered facing'the cutting element and which have inclined surfaces extending downwardly and rearwardly from the shoulders, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 3 of the drawings. The feed bars are provided with spaced eccentric receiving bpenings 26 and 26a located adjacent the front and rear ends of the feed bars and formed by integrally depending straps or enlargementsof the feed bars. The openings 25 and 26a receive eccentrics 2i, 28 and 29 which are arranged in three groups deposed at an angle of 120. The members of the three groups are successively arranged on transverse shafts 30 and 3t and they support the feed bars in parallelism and with the members of each group of feed bars at a slightly different elevation from the members of the two other groups. The eccentrics rotate in the direction as shown by the arrows in Fig. 3 of the drawings. The feed bars are raised and lowered and moved longitudinally backwardly and forwardly by the rotary movement of the eccentrics and serve to support and simultaneously and continuously feed the slabs 2-3 of bacon forwardly in a straight line to the cutting element.

The arrangement of the eccentrics at an angle of is clearly illustrated in Fig. 4 of the drawings. The eccentric shafts 30 and 31 which are journaled in suitable bearings of the frame of the machine. have keyed or otherwise secured to them at one end, beveled gears 32 and 33 which mesh with beveled gears 34 and 35 fixed to the opposite ends of longitudinal shaft 36. The shaft 36 is journaled in suitable bearings 31 and 38 mounted to one side of the frame of the slicing machine and it is connected by a chain gearing 39 with the drive shaft I 0. Both the slicing knife and the feeding means are operated by power from the electric motor. The knife I6 is reciprccated or oscillated through the arm indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2 of the drawings. The slicing machine may be readily equipped with either a rotating or a reciprocating knife.

Each slab of bacon is successively pressed against the feed bars by the action of loaded or spring pressed rollers 4 The pressing rollers 40 are supported at each end by suitable bearings 4| connected to the lower ends of rods 42 arranged in parallelism and mounted in upper and lower frame bars 43 and 44 arranged in bearings at opposite sides of the slicing machine.

The upper frame bars 43 which extend longitudinally of the bed of the slicing machine are secured to upper transverse frame bearings 45 located at the end portions of the upper frame bars 43, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings. The lower longitudinal frame bars 44 are secured to a lower transverse frame bar 46 located at a point intermediate of the ends of the lower longitudinal frame bars 44, but the upper and lower longitudinal frame bars 43 and 44 may be supported in any other desired manner, as will be readily understood. The rods 42 which slide in the longitudinal frame bars have disposed on them coiled springs 41 interposed between the upper longitudinal frame bars 43 and collars 48 or other suitable stops carried by the rods located above the lower longitudinal frame bars 44, as clearly illustrated in Fig. l of the drawings. The coiled springs 41 press the transversely disposed rollers 49 downwardly and maintain the same firmly but yieldably in contact with the slab 23 of bacon and press the latter firmly against the longitudinal feed bars and enable the feed bars to securely grip and positively feed the slab of bacon to the cutting element.

The lower longitudinal frame members 44 which have their front ends in substantial alignment with the front ends of the upper longitudinal frame bars 43 terminate at their rear ends at a point intermediate of the ends of the upper longitudinal frame bars or members and they are provided with arcuate upwardly curved hinged rear portions 49 between which are mounted an arcuate set of rollers 58 journaled in suitable bearings of the curved portions 49 of the lower longitudinal frame bars or members 44 forming a tapering mouth or inlet space between the said rollers 40 and the feed bars for guiding a slab of bacon into the space between the spring pressed rollers and the feed bars.

This arcuate series of rollers 50 enable the feed bars to feed a slab of bacon forwardly into the said space between the spring pressed rollers and the feed bars whereby the slabs of bacon are successively and positively fed forwardly to the cutting element.

When the machine is arranged in an inclined position, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 6 of the drawings, a slab of bacon delivered into the machine along the path indicated by the arrow, in each of said figures, will be carried by gravity under the guiding-in rollers until it is firmly wedged between the multiple toothed feed bars 24 and the pressing rollers 49. The operation of the feed bars will positively cause the slab of bacon to be fed forwardly in a straight line to the cutting element which will sever slices from the slab of bacon and cause the slices to fall upon the conveyor 3 in overlapped relation, as illustrated in Fig. 6 of the drawings.

What is claimed is:

1. In a slicing machine, a cutting element and means for feeding material to the cutting element including a plurality of transversely arranged pressing rollers, a plurality of groups of longitudinally extending feeding elements successively movable upwardly and forwardly toward the pressing roll rs into contact with the material and downwardly and backwardly out of contact with the material, each of said groups of feeding elements contacting with the material only during such forward movement for feeding the material to the cutting element and constituting the sole means for supporting the material against downward displacement during the feeding and cutting operation.

2. In a slicing machine, a transverse cutting element, and means for longitudinally feeding material to the cutting element including a plurality of spring actuated pressing rollers, a plurality of interleaved groups of feeding elements operating successively on the underside of the product and movable upwardly and toward the pressing rollers forwardly into contact with the material and downwardly and backwardly out of contact with the material, said groups of feeding elements contacting with the material only during such forward movement for feeding the material to the cutting element and constituting the sole means for supporting the material against downward displacement during the feeding and cutting operation.

3. In a slicing machine, a cutting element, and means for feeding material to the cutting element including a plurality of transversely dis- 5 posed spring actuated pressing rollers, a plurality of groups of longitudinally disposed multiple toothed feed bars said groups being successively movable upwardly and forwardly toward the pressing rollers into contact with the material to feed the same to the cutting element and then downwardly and backwardly out of engagement with the product, said feed bars contacting only with the material during their forward feeding movement and constituting the sole means for supporting material during the cutting and feeding operation.

4. In a slicing machine, a transverse cutting element, and means for feeding material in a longitudinal direction to the cutting element, said means including a plurality of upper spring actuated pressing rollers, separate groups of longitudinally extending narrow interleaved feed bars, the separate groups of feed bars being arranged close together and the separate groups being arranged close together to permit the material to bridge the spaces between the bars and the groups thereof without bending of the fed material, and means for moving the feed bars of each group successively upwardly and forwardly into contact with the material to feed the same forwardly and then downwardly and backwardly out of engagement with the material, said groups of feed bars during their forward movement constituting the sole means for supporting the material during the feeding and cutting operation.

5. In a slicing machine, a cutting element and means for feeding material to the cutting element, said means including a plurality of upper transversely disposed spring actuated pressing rollers, a plurality of feed bars, and eccentrics for moving the feed bars successively toward the pressing rollers into contact with the material to feed the same to the cutting element and out of engagement with the material.

6. In a slicing machine, a cutting element and means for feeding material to the cutting element, said feeding means including upper transversely arranged side by side pressing rollers, a plurality of feed bars, and eccentrics for successively moving the feed bars toward the pressing rollers into contact with the material to feed the same to the cutting element and out of engagement with the material, said eccentrics being arranged at an angle for causing the feed bars to successively engage and feed the material towards the cutting element and the said feed bars during their forward movement constituting the sole'support for the material during the feeding and cutting operation, said bars being arranged closely together to prevent the material bending between the same during the feeding operation.

'7. In a slicing machine, a transverse cutting element, and means for longitudinally feeding material to the cutting element including a plurality of transversely disposed pressing rollers, a plurality of separate groups of feed bars arranged longitudinally under the pressing rollers, and eccentrics for moving the feed bars upwardly and forwardly toward said rollers into contact with the material to feed the material to the cutting element and downwardly and backwardly out of engagement with the material, said eccentrics being arranged at an angle for successively engaging the several groups of feed bars with the material and the feed bars during their forward movement constituting the sole means for sup porting the material during the feeding and cutting of the same.

8. In a slicing machine, a transverse cutting element, and means for longitudinally feeding material to the cutting element including a plurality of upper transversely disposed pressing rollers, a plurality of groups of interleaved longitudinally extending feed bars and eccentrics for moving the feed bars upwardly and forwardly toward the pressing rollers into contact with the material to feed the same to the cutting element and downwardly and backwardly out of engagement with the material, said eccentrics being arranged at an angle for successively engaging the several groups of feed bars with the material and the feed bars during their forward movement constituting the sole means for supporting the material during the feeding and cutting of the same, the feeding bars being arranged relatively close together with each group of bars being arranged relatively close together to permit the material to bridge the spaces between all of the bars and thereby prevent bending of the material as it is fed to the cutting element.

9. In a slicing machine, a cutting element, and means for feeding material to the cutting element including a plurality of transversely disposedupper pressing rollers, a plurality of feed bars and front and rear eccentrics connected with the feed bars for successively moving the same into contact with the material for feeding the same to the cutting element and out of engagement with the material, said feed bars during their forward movement constituting the sole support for the material during the feeding and cutting of the same. and a separate set of rollers arranged in arcuate formation and pivotally supported in advance of the aforesaid pressing rollers to provide a tapering mouth between the first mentioned rollers and the feed bars for guiding a slab of material into the space between the spring pressed rollers and the feed bars.

-10. In a slicing machine, a transverse cutting element, inclined means for longitudinally feeding material in an inclined plane to the cutting element including a plurality of transversely disposed pressing rollers, a plurality of groups of longitudinally disposed feed bars, and front and rear eccentrics connected with the feed bars and set at an angle for successively operating the feed bars of the groups to move the bars upwardly and forwardly toward the pressing rollers into contact with the material to feed the same to the cutting element and downwardly and backwardly out of engagement with the material, said feed bars during their forward movement constituting the sole means for supporting the material during the feeding and cutting of the same.

11. In a slicing machine, a transverse cutting element, and means for longitudinally feeding material to the cutting element including a plurality of upper spring actuated pressing rollers, a plurality of separate groups of successively interleaved longitudinally disposed narrow feed bars, the bars of each group being arranged relatively close together and each group of bars being arranged relatively close together so as to support the material on the bars against bending in the spaces between the bars incident topressure on the material by the pressing rollers, and front and rear eccentrics connected with the feed bars and arranged at an angle to successively move the several groups of feed bars upwardly and forwardly toward the pressing rollers into contact with the material for feeding the same to the cutting element and downwardly and backwardly out of engagement with the cutting element, said feed bars during their forward movement constituting the sole means for supporting the material during the feeding and cutting of the same.

12. In a slicing machine, a cutting element, and means for feeding material to the cutting element including a plurality of upper transversely disposed pressing rollers, a plurality of feed bars having spaced eccentric receiving openings, eccentric shafts having eccentrics arranged in the openings of the feed bars and moving the feed bars successively upwardly and forwardly toward the'pressing rollers into contact with the material for feeding the material against the pressure of said rollers toward the cutting element and downwardly and backwardly out of engagement with the material, the feed bars during their forward movement successively constituting means for supporting the material, and means for simultaneously operating the cutting element and the feeding means.

13. In a slicing machine, a transverse cutting element, and means for longitudinally feeding material to the cutting element including a plurality of upper transversely disposed spring actuated pressing rollers, three separate groups of longitudinally disposed successively interleaved feed bars arranged under the pressing rollers in spaced relation thereto, the bars of each group being narrow and arranged relatively close together and the groups of bars being arranged relatively close together to prevent bending of the fed material in spaces between the bars under the pressure exerted on the material by the pressing rollers, and front and rear transverse eccentric shafts having three sets of eccentrics arranged at an angle of 120 and connected with the separate groups of feed bars and adapted to successively move the said feed bars upwardly and forwardly into contact with the material for feeding the same to the cutting element and downwardly and backwardly to carry the feed bars out of engagement with the material, said feed bars during their forward movement constituting the sole means for supporting the material during the feeding and cutting operation.

14. In a slicing machine, a frame having an inclined bed provided with a longitudinal opening, a cutting element operating at one end of said bed, a plurality of pressing rollers arranged above the bed over said opening, a plurality of supporting and feeding elements disposed longitudinally in said opening and extending beyond the forward end of said opening over the front end of said bed into close relation with said cutting element, and means for moving said bars successively upwardly and forwardly toward the pressing rollers into contact with the material to support and feed the material during such forward movement and for moving said bars downwardly and backwardly out of contact with the material when not feeding the material forwardly.

15. In a slicing machine, a frame having an inclined bed provided with a longitudinal opening, a cutting element operating at one end of said bed, a plurality of pressing rollers arranged above the bed over said opening, a plurality of supporting and feeding elements disposed longitudinally in said opening and extending beyond the forward end of said opening over the front end of said bed into close relation with said cutting element and means for moving said bars upwardly and forwardly toward the pressing rollers into contact with the material to support and feed the material during such forward movement and for moving said bars downwardly and backwardly out of contact with the material when not feeding the material forwardly, the supporting and feeding elements contacting with the material only during the forward movement thereof and during such forward movement constituting the sole means for supporting the material during the feeding thereof and the cutting operation.

16. In a slicing machine, a frame having an inclined bed provided with a longitudinal opening, a cutting element operating at one end of said bed, a plurality of pressing rollers arranged above the bed over said opening, a plurality of supporting and feeding elements disposed longitudinally in said opening and extending beyond the forward end of said opening over the front end of said bed into close relation with said cutting element and means for moving said bars upwardly and forwardly toward the pressing rollers into contact with the material to support and feed the material during such forward 5 movement and for moving said bars downwardly and backwardly out of contact with the material when not feeding the material forwardly, the supporting and feeding elements contacting with the material only during the forward movement thereof and during such forward movement constituting the sole means for supporting the material during the feeding thereof and the cutting operation, and means hingedly mounted in advance of the pressing rollers to provide a flaring mouth for directing the material positively between said pressing rollers and said bars for feed to the cutting element.

17. In a slicing machine, a cutting element, means for feeding material to the cutting element and presser means, including rollers, in contact with the material for urging the material against the feeding means, said feeding means including a plurality of feed bars, and eccentrics for moving the feed bars successively into contact with the material to feed the same to the cutting element and out of engagement with the material.

18. In a slicing machine, a cutting element, means for feeding material to the cutting element and presser means, including rollers, in contact with the material for urging the material against the feeding means, said feeding means including a plurality of feed bars, and eccentrics for successively moving the feed bars into contact with the material to feed the same to the cutting element and out of engagement with the material, said eccentrics being arranged at an angle for causing the feed bars to successively engage and feed the material toward the cutting element and the said feed bars during their forward movement constituting the sole support for the material during the feeding.

19. In a slicing machine, a cutting element, means for feeding material to the cutting element and presser means, including rollers, in contact with the material for urging the material against the feeding means, said feeding means including a plurality of feed bars and front and rear eccentrics connected with the feed bars for successively moving the same into contact with the material for feeding the same to the cutting element and out of engagement with the material, said feed bars during their forward movement constituting the sole support for the material during the feeding.

20, In a slicing machine, a cutting element, means for feeding material to the cutting element and presser means, including rollers, in contact with the material for urging the material against the feeding means, said feeding means including a plurality of feed bars having spaced eccentric receiving openings, eccentric shafts having eccentrics arranged in the openings of the feed bars and moving the feed bars successively upwardly and forwardly into contact with the material for feeding the material toward the cutting element and downwardly and backwardly out of engagement with the material, the feed bars during their forward movement successively constituting means for supporting the material, and means for 70 simultaneously operating the cutting element and the feeding means.

CHARLES T. WALTER. 

